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16—47872-1 O'O 



THE PRESIDENTIAL .ELECTION. 



GREELEY OR GRANT ? 



SPEECH 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 



Intended to he ddwered at Faneuil Hall, Boston^ 
^ Sept, 3y 1872, 



BOSTON^ 

^. E. FARWfiLL & COMPANY, PRINTERS, 
iKo. 37 CoKORESs Street 



Liberal Republican Head Quarters, 

.. > 21 School Street. 

Boston, August 24, 1872. 

My Dear Sir : — I am directed by the Liberal Republican State Committee 
to communicate to you a vote of which the following is a copy : 

Voted, That the Chairn^in, in the name of the Liberal Republican State 
Conunittee, invite the lion. Charles Sumner to address his constituents on 
Public Affairs in Faneuil Hall, at the earliest day that may suit his con- 
venience. 

Allow me to add my earnest personal wishes that you will be able to 
comply with the request. "The great soul of the world is just," and the 
sober second thought of th6 people of Massachusetts will, I doubt not, sus- 
tain vou in the position you have taken in favor of Reform and R^econcilia- 
tion, and, therefore, of the election of Greeley and Brown. 
Very faithfully yours, 

F. W. BIRD. 

Hon. Chaklks Sumner. 



Boston, Aug. 30, 1872. 
Dear Sir : 

I have been honored by your communication of Aug. 24tb, inviting mei n 
the name of the Liberal Republicans of Massachusetts, to speak in Faneuil 
Hall. It is with inexpressible pain and regret that I feel constrained to de- 
cline this flattering opportunity, 

I had eonhdently hoped, on returning home, to meet my fellow-citizens in 
that v< nei-able forum, so dear to us all, and to apeak once more on great 
questions involving the welfare of our country, but recurring symptoms of 
a painful character warn me against any such attempt. My physjeian advi- 
ses that I must not, for the present, make any public effort, and he prescribee 
rest. Valued 'friends, familiar with my condition, unite with the excellent 

physician. 

In submitting most reluctantly to these admonitions, I cannot renounce 
the privilege of communicating Avith my fellovr-citizens, and, therefore, hand 
vou a copy of what, with the blessing of health, 1 hoped to say. In the 
House of Representatives undelivered speeches are sometimes ordered to be 
printed. You may follow this precedent with mine, or do with it as you 
please. Meanwhile, accept nry best wishes, and believe me, 

Dear Sir, 

Very faithfully yours, 

CHARLES SUMNER. 
Hon. Francis W. BiRt>, Chairma&, etc., et«. 






GRUELEY OR GRANT ? 



UON. CHARLES SUMMER'S SPEECH. 



Fellow Citizens : — 

It is on the invitation of the State Committee of Liberal 
Republicans that I have the honor of addressing you. I shall 
speak directly on the issue before us. If I am frank and plain, 
it will be only according to my nature, and the requirement of 
duty at this time. But nothing can I say which is not prompted 
by a sincere desire to serve my country, and especially to pro- 
mote that era of good will, when the a.ssent of all shall be as- 
sured to the equal rights of all. 

THE TWO CANDIDATES. 

At the approaching Presidential election the people are to 
choose between two candidates. By the operation of our elec- 
toral system, and the superadded dictation of Natibnal Conven- 
tions, the choice is practically limited to President Grant and 
Horace Greeley, so that no preference for another can be made 
effective. One of these must be taken. Preferring Horace 
Greeley, I have no hesitation in assigning the reasons which lead 
me to this conclusion. 

Believing the present incumbent unfit for the great office to 
which he aspires for a second time, and not doubting that a vote 
for him would be regarded as the sanction of abuses and pre- 
tensions unrepublican in character, I early saw the difficulty of 
taking any^iart for his re-election. Long ago I declared that, 
while recognizing party as an essential agency and convenience, 



I could not allow it to constrain my conscience afrjiinfit what 
seemed the requirements of public good. KeganJin<^- alwava 
substance rather than form, I have been indifferent to the name by 
which I might be called. Nor was I impressed by the way in which 
the candidate was urged. Supporters, while admitting his failure, 
and even the abuses and pretensions so notorious in lii-s civil life, 
* commended his re-election as necessary to uphold the party 
with which I have been associated. But it is easy to see that a 
vote tor such a candidate on such a reason, was " to do evil 
that good might come," which is forbidden in politics as in 
morals. 

Two courses seemed oj)en. One was to abstain from' votintr, 
and I confess that this was my first inclination. But it is not easy 
for me to be neutral, certaiidy where wrong doing is in question ; 
nor is it my habit to shrink from responsibility. But the 
doubt that beset me was removed when I saw the Democratic 
party adopt the candidate opposed to President Grant, being an 
original Republican already nominated by a Kepublican conven- 
tion, and at the same time accept the Republican platform on 
which he was nominated. An old party whirh had long stood 
out against the Republican cause now placed itself on a Repub- 
lican platform, the best ever adopted, with a Republican candi- 
date, who was the most devoted Republican ever nominated, 
thus completely accepting the results of the war and offeiing the 
hand, of reconciliation. ' At once the character of the contest 
changed. This was no common event. Pardon me if I say 
that to me it was of peculiar interest. For years I have sought 
to establish in the National Government the great principles of 
the Declaration of lnde]>endence, avowing always that when 
this was done, nobody sliould surpass n)e in generosity towards 
former rebels. Not only by the logic of my life, but by con- 
stant s[)eeches, was I bound to welcome those who placed them- 
selves on this glorious platform. The extent of this obligation 
■will appear befort I close. And now its performance har- 
monizes with opposition to the prolonged misrule of the present 
incumbent. 

TWO REASO^'S IX FAVOR OF. GUEIiLEY. 

Evidently I am not at liberty to abstain from voting. In 
considering the reasons in favor of Horace Greeley,.! find two, 
differing in character but of chief importance: first,, that he 
represents a reformed civil service, beginnmg with the One 



Term Principle, witliout which thi3 reform is too much like a 
sham: and secondly, that he represents reconciliation, not only 
between the two sections, but between the two races, which is 
essential to the repose of the country and the safeguard of 
Equal Rights. 

To these must be added that he does not represent those 
personal pretensions so utterly inconsistent with Republi- 
can government which are now known as Grantism. In 
voting for Horace Greeley, you will not sustain nepotism ; 
you will not sustain gift-taking rewarded by official favor ; and 
you will not lend your sanction to the St. Domingo machinaticm, 
with its unconstitutional usurpations, its violations of Inter- 
national Law, and" its indignity to the Black Republic. Else- 
where I have considered these fully, and I am not aware of any 
answer to the undeniable facts. I shall only ghmce at them 
now. 

NEPOTISM. 

Nepotism is already condemned by history, and most justly ; 
for it is obviously a form of self-seeking, hostile to purity T)f gov- 
ernment, and strangely out of place in a Republic. Nothing 
for self, but all for country and mankind, should be the rule of 
our President. If the promptings of his inner nature fail, then 
must he feel the irresistible obligation of his position. As he 
does, so will others do : and, therefore, must his example be 
such as to elevate the public service. Nothing in Washington's 
career has shone with more constant light than his refusal to 
confer office on his relations. Even at the time it arrested 
attention not only at home, but abroad, finding praise in 
England. Of this.there is a striking illustration. The Register 
of the Times, published at London, in 1795, in an article, en- 
titled " Interesting and Authentic Documents respecting the 
United States of America," records its homage : " The execu- 
tion of the office of the Chief Magistrate has been attended 
through a term of four years with a circumstance, which to an 
admiring world, requires no commentary. A native citizen of 
the United States, transferred from private life to that station, 
has nofe, during so long a term, appointed a single relation to 
to any office of honor or emolument." (Vol. IV., p. 121.) 
. By such confession an admiring world looked on. Something 
would I do — something, I trust, the American people will do at 
the coming election — to secure this beautiful praise yet again for 
our country. 



6- 



GIFT TAKING. 



Like nepotism the taking of gifts by a public servant is con- 
demned by history. No honest nature can iiphold it. How well 
did our late General Thomas, so admirable in character, rebuke 
this abuse, when he replied to an ofter of $100,000 as I am 
told, " let it go to my men !" If not a form of bribery it is 
kindred in nature, and this has long been lecognized, from the 
Bible (Jown to our day. According to the latter it is destruc- 
tive ; "The king by judgment establisheth the land; but he 
that receiveth gifts overthroweth it." (Proverbs, chap, xxix, 
V. 4.) Here again is the exauiple of Washington brightly 
lighting the true republican pathway. The same President 
who would not appoint a relation would not take a gift even 
wlien out of office. His example was in harmony with the 
lesson of colonial days. As long ago as April 20, 1703, 
Queen Anne, in a communication to Lord Combury, Gov- 
ernor of New Jersey, laid down the following rule : that 
neither the Governor, Lt. Governor^ Commander^iu-Chief or 
President of the council " do receive any gift, or present from 
the Assembly or other on any account, or in any manner what- 
soever upon pain of our highest displeasure, and being recalled 
from your government." This rule is as good for our day as 
for that in which it was ordained by royal authority. 

There is another instance which should not be forgotten. 
It is that of Lord W ellesley, the accomplished brother of the 
Duke of Wellington. A work so connnon as that of Smiles 
on Self-Help, records that while Governor General of India, he 
positively refused a present of £100,000, from the Directors of 
the East India Company on the conquest of Mysore, and here 
the terms of his refusal are important. " It is not necessary for 
me to allude to the independence of my character and the proper 
dignity attaching to my office, other reasons besides these im- 
portant considerations lead me to decline this testimony which 
is not suitable to me. I think of nothing but the army. 
I should- be much distressed to curtail the share of those 
brave soldiers." His refusal remained unalterable. At a 
later period, when nearly eighty years of age, embnrrassed 
by debts, and entirely withdrawn from ))ublic life, he allowed 
the Company to vote him a much smaller sum in consideration 
of his signal services. 



GIFT-MAKEKS APPOINTED TO OFFICE. 

The allowances voted by Parliament to Marlboroufjh and 
"Wellinfton on account of their victories, can be no precedent 
for the acceptance of gifts from fellow-citizens. The (listinction 
is clear. But the case against the present incumbent is not 
only that wliile holding high office, he acce[)ted gifts from fel- 
low-citizens, but subj<eqiiently appointed (he gift-makers to 
office, thus using the Presidency to pay off his own personal 
obligations. Please bear this in mind, and when some apologist 
attempts to defend the taking of gifts, let him know that he 
must go still further and show that the Presidency, with all its 
patronage, is a perquisite to be employed for the private advan- 
tage of the incumbent. 

ST. DOMINGO. 

Next in illustration of the prevailing misrule is the St. 
Domingo business, with its eccentricities of wrong doing, and 
this too is now in issue. At the thought of this unprecedented 
enormity, where wrong assumes such various forms, it is hard 
to be silent ; but I shall be brief. The case is clear, and stands 
on documents which cannot be questioned. I keep within the line 
of moderate statement, when I say that from the beginning of our 
government, nothing in our foreign relations has been so abso- 
lutely indefensible. It will not do to call it simply a fault 
and an insolence ; it was an elaborate contrivance, conceived in 
lust of territory, pursued in ignorance, maintained in open vio- 
lation of the National Constitution, pushed forward in similar 
violation of International Law in fundamental principles, 
and crowned by intolerable indignity to the Black Republic 
even to the extent of menacing hostilities and the sinking of its 
ships, — all without authority of Congress and by Presidential 
prerogative alone. In this drama the President, like a favorite 
actor, assumed every part. In negotiating the treatv, he was 
President ; in declaring war, he was Congress ; in sending ships 
and men, he was Commander-in-Chief; and, then in employ- 
ing private influ^ce with Senators, to promote his scheme 
according to the promise in the protoc(d with Baez, signed in 
his name by Orville E. Babcock, entitled therein " Ai<le-de- 
Camp of his Excellency General Ulysses S. Grant, President 
of the United States of America," he was lobbyist. That such 



8' 

tbino-s can be clone by a President without indignant condem- 
nation, loud and universal, shows a painful demoralization in 
the country. That their author can be presented fur re-election 
to the Presidency, whose powers he has thus misused, shows a 
disl-.eartening insensibility to public virtue. 

Here I remark that so long as the President confined him- 
self to negotiation, he was strictly within the line of the Con- 
stitution. Even if indiscreet in character and impolitic in ob- 
ject, it was not unconstitutional. But in seizing war powers 
without the authority of Congress — in upholding the uurper 
Baez, that he might sell his country — in menacing the Black 
Eepublic, and then in playing the lobbyist to promote the con- 
trivance, the President did what no other President ever did be- 
tore, and what, for the sake of Kepublican Institutions, should 
be rebuked by the American people. It was the knowledge of 
these proceedings that changed essentially my relations to the 
question. 

PERSONAL MISREPRESENTATIONS . 

I allude with hesitation to personal misrepresentations on 
the matter. It has been said that I promised originally to 
support the treaty. This is a mistake. I knew nothing of the 
treaty, and had no suspicion of it until several months after the 
protocol, and some time after the negotiation was completed; 
and then, my simple promise was that it should have from me 
"the most careful and candid consideration :" and such I gave 
it most sincerely. At first my opposition was reserved and with- 
out allusion to the President. It was only when the strange 
business was fully disclosed in official documents, communicated 
in confidence to the Senate, and it was still pressed, that I felt 
impelled to a sterner resistance. Especially Avas I constrained, 
when I found how much the people of Hayti suffered. It so 
happened that 1 had reported the bill acknowledging their inde- 
pendence and establi; hing diplomatic relations between our two 
countries, assuring that equality which had been violated. Not 
unmoved could I witness the wrong inflicted upon them. And 
has it come to this, that the President of the Great Republic, 
instead of carrying peace and good tidings tp Africans com- 
mencing the experiment of self-government, should become to 
them an agent of terror? 

It is difficult to see how I could have done otherwise. 
Anxious to excuse the anger towards me, it has been said that I 



opposed tlie treaty because Mr. Motley was unceremoniously re- 
moved from the mission at London ; and here you will see the 
extent to which misrepresentation has ^one. It so happens that 
Mr. Motley was removed on tlie day immediately foli()win<>- the 
rejection of the treaty. Evidently my opposition was not in- 
fluenced by the removal ; was the removal influenced by . my 
opposition ? 

Equally absurd is the story that I am now influenced by per- 
sonal feelings. I am a public servant, traine<l to duty, and now, 
as always before, I have yielded only to this irresistible man- 
date. 'With me there is no alternative. The misconduct of 
the President, so apparent in the St. Domingo device, be- 
came more conspicuous in the light of illustrative facts, show- 
ing it to be part of a prevailing misrule, which, for the sake of 
our country, should not be prolonged. As a patriot citizen, 
anxious for the national welfare and renown, am I obliged to 
declare these convictions. 

I am now brought to those two chief measures to be advanced 
by the election of Horace Greeley, each of controlling impor- 
tance; one looking directly to purity and efficiency in the gov- 
^ernmeut, and the other to the peace and welfare of our country. 

• ONE TERM PRINCIPLE. 

The principle of one Term for President is the corner stone 
of a reformed civil service. So plain is this to my apprehen- 
sion that I am at a loss to understand how any one, sincerely 
in favor of such reform, can fail to insist upon this principle. 
All experience shows that the employment of the appointing 
power to promote the personal ends of the President is the great 
disturbing influence in our civil service. Here is the compre- 
hensive abuse which envelops all the offices of the country, 
making them tributary to one man, and subordinate to liis de- 
sires. Let this be changed, and you have the first stage of reform, 
without which all other measures are dilatory, if not fee- 
ble and ineflScient. How futile to recommend, as is done by 
the commissioners on Civil Service, "an honest competitive exani- 
lination," while the rules for this system are left to the discretion 
of a President, seeking re-election. " Lead us not into temp- 
'tation" is part of the brief prayer we are all taught to repeat ; 
nor are Presidents above the necessity of this prayer. The 
misuse of the appointing power to advance ambitious aims 



10 

is a temptation to which a President must not be exposed. 
For his sake, and for the sake of the country, this must not be. 

In attributing peril to this intiuence, I speak not only from 
my own careful observation, but from the testimony of others 
wliose words are authoritative. You do not forget how Andrew 
Jackson declared that the limitation of the office to one term 
was required, in order to place the President " beyond the 
reach of any imj)roper influence, and uncommitted to any other 
course than the strict line of constitutional duty ;" how William 
Henry Harrison announced that with the adoption of this princi- 
ple, " the incumbent would devote all his time to the pTiblic in- 
terest and there would be no cause to misrule the country;" 
how Henry Clay was satiisfied, after much observation and reflec- 
tion, " that too much of the time, the thoughts and the exer- 
tions of the incumbent are occupied during the first term in se- 
curing his "re-election ;" and how my senatorial associate of 
many years, Benjamin F. Wade, after denouncing the re- 
eligibility of the President, said : " Ihere are defects in the 
Constitution, and these are amonj; the most olarlnrj." Accord- 
mg to this experienced Senator, the re-eligibility of the Presi- 
dent is not only a defect in the Constitution, but one of the 
most jjlarinsr. 

And such also was the declared opinion of the present incum- 
bent before his election, and the temptation of a second term. 
It has been stated by one who conferred with him at the time, 
that immediately before his nomination, Gen, Grant said, in the 
spirit of Andrew Jackson : " The liberties of the country can- 
not be maintained without a One Term amendment of the Con- 
stitution," and another writes me that while on a walk between 
the White House and the Treasury, just at the head of the steps, 
near the fountain, he paused a moment, and said : "I am in 
favor of restricting the President to a single term, and of abol- 
ishingrfthe office of Vice-President." By the authority of this 
declaration, the Morning Chronicle, the organ of the Republican 
Party at Washington, proclaimed of its Presidential candidate, 
** He is moreover in favor of the One Term principle, as con- 
ducing toward the proper administration of the law," and then 
at a later date, after calling for the adoption of this principle, 
the same Rej)ublican organ said, '"Gen. Grant is in favor of it." 
Unquestionably at that time, while the canvass was proceeding, 
he allowed himself to be commended as a supporter of this princi- 
ple. That he should now disregard it, gives new reason for the 
prayer, " Lead us not into temptation." 



u 

Never before was the necessity for this beneficent amendment 
more apparent ; for never before was the wide-spread abuse 
from the re-ehgibility of the President more "grievously conspicu- 
ous. De Tocqueville, the iUustrious Frenchman, who saw our 
institutions with a vision quickened by jrenius, and chasteued by 
friendly regard, discerned the peril, when he. said : 

'♦ Intrig;ue and corruption are the natural vicfls of elective {government; 
but when the head of the State can he re-elected, these evils rise to a s^'-at 
height and compromise the very existence of the country. Wnen a sim[)le can- 
didate seeks to rise bv intrigue, his manicuvres must be limited to a very 
narrow sphere; btU lohentke chief magistrate enters the lixf,, fie borrows the 
■ strength of the gov ernment for his own purposes. * * If the representa- 
tive of tlie executive descends into the combat, the cares of government 
dwindle for him into second-race importance and the success of liis election 
is his first concern." {^Democracy in America, Vol. I., Chap. VIII., p. 172.) 

Nothing more true then these reinarkable words, which are 
completely verified. in what we now behold. The whole diver- 
sified machinery of the national government in all its parts, oper- 
ating in State, District, Town and Village, is now at work to 
secure there-election of the President, as for sometime before it 
worked to secure his re-nomination, — the whole being obedient 
to the central touch. 

Look for a moment at this macliinery, or, if you please, at 
this political hierarchy, beginning with cabinet officers, and 
I'eaching to the pettiest postmaster, every one diligent to the 
single end of serving Presidential aspiration. The JefFersonian 
rule was, " Is hehonest?" " Is he capable?" "Is he faithful 
to the Constitution?" But this is lost in the mightier law : " Is 
he faithful to re-election?" Tills failing, all merit fails. Every 
office-holder from highest to lowest, according to his influence, 
becomes propagandist, fugleman, whipper in. Members of 
the cabinet set the example and perambulate the country, in- 
structing the people to vote for re-election. Heads of 
bureaus do likewise. Then in their respective localities, officers 
of the Customs, officers of the Internal Revenue, marshals with 
their deputies and postmasters, each and all, inspired from the 
national capitol, are all calling for re-election. This organized 
power, variously estimated at from sixty to eighty thousand in 
number, all paid by the government., and overspreading the 
whole country in one minute net-work, has unprecedented con- 
trol at this moment, partly from increased facilities of commu- 
nication, and partly from the military drill which still survives 
the war, but more, perhaps, from the determined will of the 
President to which all these multitudinous wills are subjugated^ 



12 

This simple picture, which nobody can question, reveals a ty- 
ranny second only to that of the Slave Power itself, which Jef^ 
ferson seems to have foreseen, when, after portray ins^ the le^is^ 
lature as most to be feared in his day, he said : '♦ The tyrannyj 
of the Executive Power will come in its turn, but at a more dis- 
tant period." Even his prophetic vision did not enable him to 
foresee the mournful condition we now deplore, with the One 
Man Power lording itself through all the offices of the country. 

Tlie recent election in North Carolina made this practically 
manifest. Even without a telescope all could discern the opera- 
tions of the field. Postmasters and officers of Internal Reveiaue 
were on hand each in his place. Then came the marshal, with 
files of deputies, extemporized for the occasion, while 
ranging over the extensive circuit was the supervisor of the 
revenue, the whole instructed and animated by members of the 
cabinet, who abandoned their responsible duties, to help re-elec-\ 
tion, which, for the time, was above all departments of gotem- 
ment and all exigencies of the public service. In the same way 
the chief Custom Houses of the country have been enRsted. 
Each has become a political centre whose special object is re- 
election. Authentic evidence before a Congressional Commit-^ 
tee, shows that Thomas Murphy, while Collector of New York, 
acting as Lieutenant of the President, sought to control the Re- 
publican State Convention by tendering office to four men, in con- 
sideration of the return of certain delegates, promising that " he 
would immediately send their names on to Washington and 
have them appointed," and then, by way of enforcing the Presi- 
dential supremacy, he announced with startling effrontery, 
" President Grant is the representative and Head of the Republi-* 
can Party, and all good Republicans should support him in all 
his measures and appointments, and any one who did not do it,' 
should be crushed out.'^ If this was not authenticated under 
oath, it would be hard to believe. But the New Orleans Cus- 
tom House has a story much worse. Here Presidential preten- 
sion is mixed with unblushing corruption, in which the Collec- 
tor, a brother-in-law, is a chief actor. And all for re-election. 

This prostitution of the offices of the country to the Presi- 
dential will, can be upheld only by unhesitating partisan 
zeal, discarding reason and patriotism. Already it has been 
condemned in an official Report made to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, Nov. 27, 1867, by Mr. Boutwell, as Chairman of 
the Coumiittee of the Judiciary, and signed by him. His direct 
object was to arraign Andrew Johnson ; but these words declare 
a rule applicable to all Presidents : 



13 

"The presence and active ))articipation of twn of the heads of deparfments 
in a political convention at l'hila<Iolf»liia, liavii)<; for its ohject tia- orgaiiiza- 
tion of a party to sii>tain the Presicli-nt ami defeat tlie will of Con<jrcs-* and 
the people; and one of these functionaries, the prime aj^ent in the removals 
from and apf)ointinents to ollice for political reasons, is a fact well known to the 
country. The like had not ha[)pened hcfore in its history. In (lie view of 
rif^ht-minded men, it was somethinji; more than a pnblic scandal." {Itep. 
of Com. Xu. 1, n. of Eep. -iOth Cong., Istsess., p. 41.) 

The report adduces tlie autliority of John Locke, the emi- 
nent philosopher, as dechirini; the eniploynient of *' the force, 
treasure and ojjiccs of the society to corrupt the reprcse'nfdtiies, or 
opaibj to pre-engitgc the electors, or prescribe zchat manner (f per~ 
sons shall be chosen " as auion^ breaclies of trust in the executive 
magistrate, which amounts to a dissolution of the government ; 
for '* what is it,'* he says, " but to cut up the government by 
the roots and poison the very fountains of public security?'* 
(Z-ocAe on Guvcrnmnit, § 222.) But all this we witness here. 
The offices are employed to pre-engage the electors, or prescribe 
the persons to be chosen. Nor do I see any corrective of this 
undoubted abuse, especially after the example now set in high 
quarters, so long as the President is a candidate for re-elec- 
tion. 

Therefore, to arrest a flagrant tyranny, and to secure purity 
in the government, also to save the President from himself, 
should ti)is amendment be adopted ; and since Horace Greeley is 
known to be its strenuous supporter, we have an unanswerable 
reason in his behalf. 



RECONCILIATION. 

From the practical questio.n of Civil Service Reform, I pass 
to Reconciliation, being the most important issue ever j)resented 
to the American people, — reconciliation not only between the 
two once warring sections, but also between the two races. 
This issue, so grand and beautiful, was distinctly presented when 
Horace. Greeley, in accepting the Republican nomination at Cin- 
cinnati, wrote these memorable words : 

** In this faith, and with the distinct understanding, that if elected, I shall 
be the President, not of a party, but of the whole people, I accept vour 
nomination in the confident trust; that the masses of our cou-'trymen. North 
and South, are eager to clasp hands across the bloody chasm which has too 
long divided them, forgetting that they have been enemies, in the joyful con- 
sciousness that they are. and must henceforth remain, brethren." 

The issue was again presented, when thereafter the Democratic 

party in National Convention, acting under an irresistible 



.- ■ ' .'l 

14 



movement of the people, nominated tlie author of these words. 
It is difficult to see how this noble aspiration can find other 
than a generous res|)onse. Nothing but a party sj)irit, which 
forgets the obligations of Christian duty, could treat it with 
indifference, much less make it the occasion of misrepresenta- 
tion. By no effort of ingenuity or mahgnity can it be tortured 
into anything but an offer of reconciliation, while the very letter 
of acceptance, where it appears, declares the established su- 
premacy of equal rights. Observe also that it is made only 
when the Avoriv of reconstruction is ended. Here is the testi- 
•mony of a Senator of South Carolina, in a speech in the Sen- 
ate, January 22, 1872 : " The last of the Southern States is 
admitted to its full privileges as a member of .the brotherhood 
of States ; the constitutional amendments intended to secure 
the principles established by the war and subsequent events, 
have been accepted as valid. Thfere can be no fear or danger 
of their being disturbed." But these things are forgotten ; the 
Sermon on the Mount is forgotten also ; the beatitudes are put 
aside. A great writer of the Middle Ages, after dwelling on 
what is best for us, says: ♦' Hence it is that not riches, not 
.pleasures, not honors, not length of life, not health, not strength, 
not comeliness, was sung to the shej^herds from on high, but 
peace." {Dante, De Monarchia, Lib. I., § 5.) The supporters 
of re-election will not hearken to this song, and the proffered 
hand is rejected. If not war, they would preserve, at least, 
the passions of war, and instead of peace would scatter distrust 
and defiance. The old fable is renewed : 

" Emboldened now on fresh attempt he goes. 
With serpeiits' teeth the fertile furrows sows ; 
The glebe fermenting with enchanted juice, 
Makes the snakes' teeth a human crop produce." 

For me there can be but one course on this issue, and the 
moment it was presented, I seemed to behold for the first time, 
the dawn of that better era in our country, when the equal rights 
of all should be placed under the safeguard of assured peace 
and reconciliation. Had I failed to sympathize with this en- 
deavor, I should have been false to the record of my life. My 
first public utterance, as far back as July 4, 1845, was to com- 
mend the cause of peace, which from that early day, anndst the 
contentions of public duty, and the terrible responsibilities of 
war, has never been absent from my mind. While insisting on 
the abolition of slavery, while urging enfranchisement, while 
vindicating the. equal rights of all, and while pressing recon- 



15 

stmction, I have constantly declared that all these were for no 
purpose of vengeance or punishment, but only for the security 
of the citizen, and the establishment of government on just 
foundations, and that when this was done, nobody should outdo 
me in those generosities that become the conqueror more than 
his conquest. 

PERSOyVL RECORD. 

Here the testimony is complete. If I open it now, it is less 
to show the obligations which constrain me personally, than to 
make thet^e witnesses plead again the cause, which from the be-, 
tyinnin'*- I have had at heart. I follow the order of time, letting 
each speak in a few words. 

There are some among us who may remember that early 
speech, before the Repubhcan State Convention a^t Worcester, 
Oct. 1, 1861, which excited at tiie time so much discussion, 
when, after calling for emancipation, I united this cause with 
peace : 

" Two objects are before us, union and peace, each for the sake of the other, 
and both for the sake of the country ; but without emancipation how can w« 
expect either ? " 

Thus at the beginning was I mindftil of peace. 

Then again in the same strain at the Cooper Institute, New 
York, Nov. 27, 1861, after showing slavery to be the origin 
and mainspring of the Rebellion, I pleaded for emancipation," 
and at the same time first sounded the key-note of reconciliation, 

" Perversely and pitifully do j ou postpone that sure period of reconcilia- 
tion, not only between the two sections, not only between the men of the North, 
and the men of the South, but more necessary still between slave and master y 
without which the true tranquillity we all seek cannot be permanently as- 
sured. Believe me, only through such reconciliation, under the sanction pf 
freedom, can you remove all occasion of conflict hereafter." 

Thus early was reconciliation associated with my most earnest 
eflforts ; nor did I at any moment hesitate in this work. 

The saaie spirit was manifest in opj)osition to perpetuating 
the memory of victories over fellow-citizens. The question 
arose on a dispatch of General McClellan where, after announc- 
ing the capture of Williamsbin*g, he inquired wliether he was 
*' authorized to follow tlie examples of other generals, and 
direct the n;imes of battles to be placed on the colors of regi- 
ments?" This being conimunicated to the Senate, I felt it my 
duty to move May 8, 1862, the following resolution: 



1:6 

Besolved, That in tbe efforts now making for tJie restoration of the Union, 
and (he estahUshment of peace throughout (lie country, it is inexpedient that 
the names of victories obtained over fellow-citizens should be placed on 
the regimental colors of the United States. 

Here again was anxiety for peace. Mr. Wilson, my col- 
league, did not agree with me, and he made haste to introduce 
a counter-resolution ; but no further action was had upon it. 
The usage of civilized nations is against placing on regimental 
colors the names of victories gained over fellow-countrymen. 
In France, the most military country of the world, the princi- 
ple was carefully discarded by King Louis Philippe, when, in 
preparing the nmseum at Versailles, he excluded every picture 
or imao-e of civil war. Everything to arouse and gratify the 
patriotic pride of Frenchmen, — of all Frenchmen, — is there, 
but nothing to exhibit Frenchmen warring with each other. 
' Then came the bills for confiscation, which I supported chiefly 
with a view to emancipation. While enforcing this object, 
May 19, 1862, I said : 

" People talk flippantly of the gallows as the certain doom of the rebels. 
This is a mistake. For weal or woe the gallows is out of the question, it is 
not a possibility as a punishment in this rebellion." 

Then declaring Qur supreme object to be peace, I said : 

"In this work there is no place for any sentiment of hate or any suggestion 
of vengeance. There can be no exaction and no punishment beyond the 
necessity of the case ; nothing harsh, nothing exces'sive. Lenity and par- 
don become the conqueror more even than victory. 'Do in time of 
peace the most good, and in time of war the least evil possible ; such is the 
Law of Nations.' These are the words of an eminent French magistrate at 
the installation of a Prize Court. In this spirit it is our duty to assuage 
the calamities of war, and especially to spare the inoffensive population." 

Shortly afterwards; June 30, while the same subject was 
under consideration, I returned to it again : 

" But I confess frankly that I look with more hope and confidence to lib- 
eration than to confiscation. To give freedom is nobler than to take prop- 
erty, and, on this occasion, it cannot fail to be more efficacious, for in this 
■way'the rear guard of the Rebellion will be changed into the advance-guard 
of the Union. There is in confiscation, unless when directed against the 
criminal authors of the Rebellion, a harshness inconsistent with that mercy 
which it is always a sacred duty to cultivate, and which should be manifest 
in projiortion to our triumphs, ' mightiest in tlie miglitiest.' But liberation 
is not harsh, and it is certain, if properly conducted, to carry with it the 
smiles of a benignant Providence." 

At last the country was gladdened by the Proclamation of 
Emancipation, which here in Faneuil Hall, October G, 1862,. I 
vindicated as a measure of peace ; and then I said : 



"In the old wars between King and Parliament, which rent England, the 
generous Falkland cried from his soul, Peace, pence, and history gratefully 
records his words. Never did he utter this cry with more earnestness than 
I do now. But how shall the blessing be secured? " 

By emancipation was my answer. 

Then came the bill creating the Freedmen's Bureau. Tn open- 
ing the debate on this interesting subject, June 18, 1864, I 
said : * 

"It will be for the Senate to determine, under the circumstances what it 
will do. My earnest hope is that it will do something. The opportunity must 
not be lost of helping so many persons now helpless, and of aiding the 
cause of reconciliaiioii without tchich peace cannot be assured^ 

Here again reconciliation is announced as an ever present 
object. 

In the same spirit I deemed it my duty to oppose the efforts 
made in the winter of 1865, to authorize retaliation, diflPering 
from valued friends. The proposition for retaliation was met 
by the following declaration moved by me, Jan. 24th : 

"The United States call upon all to bear witness that in this necessary 
warfare with barbarism they renounceall vengeance, and every evil example, 
and plant themselves firmly on the sacred landmarks of a Christian civiliza- 
tion, under the protection of that God who is present with every prisoner, 
and enables heroic souls to suffer for their country." 

Then came the effort favored by President Lincoln, to receive 
Louisiana with a constitution, which failed to recognize the 
equal rights of colored fellow-citizens. Here, again, I en- 
countered the proposition by a resolution, where it is declared : 

" That such an oligarchical government is not competent at this moment 
to discharge the duties and execute the powers of a State ; and thit its re- 
cognition as a legitimate government will tend to enfeeble the Union, to 
postpone the day of reconciliation, and to endanger the national tran- 
quillity." 

Mark, if you please, the day of reconciliation ! 

Then came the question of perpetuating the memory of our 
victories. Keb. 27th, the Senate having under consideration 
an appropriation for a picture in the National Capitol, I moved as 
an amendment : 

" That in the National Capitol, dedicated to the National Union, there 
shall be no picture of a victory in battle with our own fellow-citizens." 

Mr. Wilson again made haste to announce that he disagreed 
with his colleague altogether, saying, according to the Congres- 
sional Globe, ", I do not believe in that doctrine." 

In the eulogy on President Lincoln, pronounced before the 



18 

Municipal authorities of Boston, June 1, 1865, the great object 
of reconciliation was presented as dependent on the establish- 
ment of our ideas. After insisting upon emancipation and the 
equal suffrage, these words occur : 

" Such a vengvance will be a kiss of reconciliation ; for it will remove 
every obstacle to peace and harmony. The j)eople, where slavery once 
ruled, will bless the blow that destroyed it. The people, where the kindred 
tyranny o{ caste once ruled, will rejoiae that this too fell umler the same 
blow. They will yet confess that it was dealt in no harshness, in no unkind- 
ness, in no desire to humiliate, but simply and solemnly, in the name of the 
Republic, and of human nature, for their good as well as ours ; and for their 
good more than ours. 

" By ideas, more than by armies, have we conquered. The sword of the 
archangel v/as less mighty than the mission he bore from the Lord. But if 
the ideas giving us the victory are now neglected ; if the promises of the 
Declaration, which the rebellion openly assailed, are left unfulfilled, then 
have our blood and treasure been lavished in vain." 

Then I proceeded to ask : 

" How shall these ideas be saved ? How shall the war, waged bv Abra- 
ham Lincoln, be brought to an end, so as to secure peace, trauqitlUUi/, and 
reconciliation.'''' 

In the speech at Worcester, before the Rej)ublican State 
Convention, Sept. 14th, 18H5, I insisted upon guarantees 
for the national freedtnan and the national creditor, and until 
these were accompfished, proposed to excltide the rebels from 
political power. 

** I do not ask punishment. I would notbe harsh. There is nothinghumane 
I would reject. Nothing in haste. Nothing in vengeance. Nothing in pas- 
sion. I am for gentle/iess. 1 am for a velvet glove, but I wish the hand 
for a while of iron. I confess that I have little sympathy with these hypo- 
critPs of magnanimity whose appeal for the rebel master is only a barbarous 
indifference to the slave; and yet they cannot desire more than I do the day 
of reconciliation.'''' 

Thus constantly did this idea return. 

And yet again in a letter to the Evening Post, of New York, 
dated Se[)t. 28, 1865, after insisting upon "supplementary 
safeguards " for the protection of the frecdman, I used these 
words : 

" Without this further provision I see small prospect of that peace and re- 
conciliation lohich is the object so near our hearts.''^ 

Again it appeared in a telegraphic despatch to President 
Johnson, dated Nov. I2th, 1865, and afterwards published. 
Asking tiie President to suspend his " policy towards the 
rebel States," I said : 

** I should not present this prayer if T were not fully convinced that 
thus far it has failed to obtain any reasonable guarantees for that security 



19 

K/liich it essential to peace and recnnciliatinn. * * The Doclariition of Tnde- 
pendence asserts tlie equality of all men, and that rifrhtf'ul j^ovenunent can 
be founded only on tlie consent of the governed. I see sniiil ehance of 
peace, unless these e;reat prineii)les are practically establisiied ; without this 
the house will continue divided ajjainst itself." 

Here reconciliation is associated with reconstruction on the 
basis of the equality of all men. 

Shortly afterwards, in the Atlantic Monthly for December, 
1865, p. 758, I pleaded again : 

"The lesson of clemency is of perpetual oblifijation. Harshness is bad, 
cruelty is detestable. Even justice may relent at the prompting of mercy. 
Do not fail then to cultivate the grace of clemency. * * 

" There must be no vengeance upon enemies, but there must be no sac- 
rifice of friends. And here is the distinction which cannot be forgotten, 
Nothing for vengeance, even/t?iing for justice. Follow this rule and the 
Republic will be great and glorious." 

Then, again, in the Senate speech, Feb. and 7, 186(), while 
dwelling at length upon equal suffrage, without distinction of 
color, I thus spoke for the Southern people : 

"The people there are my fellow-citizens, and gladly would I hail them, 
if they would permit us, no longer a section, no longer the South, but an 
integral part of the Republic, under a Constitution which knows no North 
and no South, aiid cannot tolerate any sectional pretensions. Gladly do I 
offer my best efforts in all sincerity for their welfare. But I see clearly that 
there is notliing in the compass of mortal power so important to them, in 
every respect, morally, politically, and economically — that there is no- 
tliing with such certain promise to them of beneficent results — thit there is 
nothing so sure to make their land smile with industry and fertility, as the 
decree of etjual rights, which I now invoke. * * This is our retaliation. 
This is our only revenge." 

In an address at the Music Hall, in Boston, Oct. 2d, 1866, 
entitled, " The One Man Power ys. Congress," I declared that 
the reconstruction I sought was one. 

"Where the rebel region, no longer harassed by controversy, and de- 
graded by injustice, will enjoy the richest fruits of seeuritt/ and reconcilia- 
tion,'''' and then added, ^I'o labor /"or this cause may well tempt the young 
and rejoice the old. " 

Then in the same address, I said : 

"Our first duty is to provide safeguards for the future. This can be only 
by provisions, sure, fundamental, and irrepealable, which shall fix forever the 
results of the w.ir, the obligations ot government, and the e(jual rights of all. 
Such is the suggestion of common prudence and of self-defence, as well as 
pf common lionesty. To this end we must make haste slowly. States which 
precipitated themselves out of Congress must not be permitted to precipitate 
themselves back. They must not be permitted to enter these halls which 
they treasonably deserted until we have every reasonable assurance of future 
good conduct. We mu^t not admit them and then repent our foil v. * * 

" But while holding this ground, I desire to disclaim every sentiment of 



20 

vengoanf'e or punishment, and also, every thought of delay or procrastina- 
tion. Here I do not yield to the President or to any other person. No- 
body can he more anxious than I am to see this chasm closed forever. 

" There is a long way and a short ivay. There is a long time and a short 
time. If there he any whose policy is for the longest way, or for the long- 
est time, I am not of the number. I am for the shortest way, and also for 
the shortest time.'''' 

Then in con.^idering Reconstruction in the Senate, March 
IGth, ]8(i7, I said: 

"ButI ask nothinV in vengeance or in unkindness. All that I propose 
is for their good, with which is intertwined the good of all. I would not 
impose any new penalty or bear hard upon an erring people. Oh, no! I 
simply a^k a new safegu;ird for the future, that these States, through which 
so much trouble has come, may be a strength and a blessing to our common 
country, with prosperity and happiness everywhere within their borders, 
I would not impose any new burden, but I seek a new triumph for civiliza- 
tion. For a m'ditary occupation, bristling with bayonets, I would substitute 
the smile of 'peace.'''' 

I then said : 

"But this cannot be done without education. As the soldier disappears, 
bis place must be supplied by the schoolmaster. The muster roll must be 
exchanged for the school register, and our headquarters must be in a school- 
house." 

And I concluded, by a motion to require in the recon- 
structed States " a system of" public schools open to all, without 
distinction of race or color," which was lost by a tie vote, being 
18 to 18. 

The subject recurred again in the Senate July 13th, 1807, 
when, after declaring regret at the inadequacy of the pending 
measure, especially in not securing a system of Public Educa- 
tion, and not excluding rebel influence, I remarked : 

*' In saying this, I desire to remark that T regard all exclusions as be- 
longing to what I call the transition period. When reconstruction is accom- 
plished, then the time will come for us to open the gates." 

In these few words will be found the ruling principle which I 
have recognized in reconstruction. 

The address, " Are We a Nation," made at the Cooper In- 
stitute, Nov. 19th, 18(57, testifies again to reconciliation. After 
showing how the national supremacy in the guardianship of 
equal rights is consistent with local self-government, and vindi- 
cating the two in tiieir respective spheres, it says : 

*' There will he a sphere alike for the States and Nation. Local self-gov- 
ernment, which is the pride of our institutions, will be reconciled with the 
national suj)rcmacy in the maintenance of human rights, and the two toge- 
ther will be the elemental principles of the Rep\iblic. The States will exer- 
cise a minute jurisdiction required for the convenience of all ; the Nation will 



21 

exercise that other prominent jurisdiction required for the protection of all. 
The reconciliation — Ood bless the word! — thus begun, will emlnace the peo- 
ple, -who, forgetting past differences, will leel more than ever tiiat they are 
one." 

Then again, in addressing the Republican State Conven- 
tion, at Worcester, Sept. 22d, 1869, I said : . , 

" Do not think me harsh ; do not think me austere. I am not. T will 
not be ontdone by any body in clemency; nor at the proper time will I be 
behind any one in opening all doors of cilice and trust. * * Wlio can ol)ject 
if men recently ariayed against their country are told to stand asido yet a 
little longer until all are secure in their rights? Here is no fixed exclusion 
— nothing of which there can be any just cortiplaint — nothing which is not 
practical, wise, humane — nothing which is not born of justice r.ither than 
victory. In the establishment of equal rights conquest loses its character, 
and is no longer conquest; 'for then, both parties nobly are subdued, and 
neither party losers.' " ' 

PERSONAL DUTY. 

Here I suspend this testimony. Such is the simple and har- 
monious record, showing how from the beginning 1 was devoted 
to peace, how constantly I longed for reconciliation — how, with 
every measure of equal rights this longing found utterance — 
how it became an essential part of my life — how I discarded 
all idea of vengeance -or punishment — how reconstruction was, 
to my mind, a transition period — and how earnestly I looked 
forward to the day, when, after the recognition of equal rights, 
the Republic should again be one in reality as in name. If 
there are any who ever maintained a policy of hate, I was never 
so minded ; and now in protestiiig against any such policy, 
I only act in obedience to the irresistible promptings of my soul. 

In embracing the opportunity unexpectedly presented at this 
election, I keep myself still in harmony with the past. Unable 
to vote a second time for President Grant, and confident tliat 
the choice of Horace Greeley will tend to assure that triumph 
of peace which has occupied so much of my desires, it only re- 
mains to vote for him. I would not expect too much, but 
knowing something of the spirit in which the Democratic party 
has adopted him as its candidate, and knowing something, also, 
of his eminent character, I cannot doubt that with his election 
there will be a new order of things, where the harsh instrumen- 
talities of power will yield to a sentiment of good will, and 
surviving irritations will be lost in concord. The war is ended. 
There must be an end also to belligerent passions, and the freed- 
man, assured in rights, must enter upon a new career of 
happiness and prosperity. Such, at least, is the object I now 



22 

seek. Even those differing from me in faitli at this critical 
moment, will not deny that such a result would mark an epoch 
in American history. And now, in the hope of its accomplish- 
ment, I forget personal consequences, and think only of the in- 
estimable jrood. 

PREJUDICE AND INVENTION. 

The partisans of re-election, resorting to prejudice and inven- 
tion, insist first, thftt the .Democratic party, which has adopted 
as its candidate an original Republican on a Republican platform, 
will prove untrue; and, secondly, that the candidate himself* 
will prove untrue; as if the Democratic party were not bound 
now to the very principles declared at Philadelphia, without the 
viscous alloy of Grantism, and as if the life and character of the 
candidate were not a sufficient answer to any such slander. 

ADHESION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. 

Evidently there are individuals, calling themselves Democrats, 
who feel little sympathy with the movement, and there are 
others who insist upon the old hates, whether towards the North 
or towards the freedman. Unhappily, this is only according to 
human nature. It must be so. Therefore, though pained in 
feeling, my trust is not disturbed by sporadic cases cited in 
newspapers, or by local incidents. This is clear. An spite of 
politicians, and against their earnest efforts, the people 
represented in the Democratic Convention, adopted a Republican 
nomination and platform. Baltimore answered to Cincinnati'' 
A popular uprising, stirred by irresistible instinct, triumphed 
over all resistance. The people were wiser than their leaders, 
illustrating again the saying of the French statesman, so expe- 
rienced in 'human affairs, that above the wisdom of any individ- 
ual, however great, is the wisdom of all. But this testifies to 
that Providence which shapes our ends. 

" So Providence for us, high, infinite. 
Makes our necessities its watchful task." 

Plainly in recent events there has been a presiding influence 
against which all machinations have been powerless. Had the 
Convention at Philadelphia nominated a good Re[)ublican, truly 
representing Republican principles without drawback, there 
is no reason to believe that Horace Greeley would have been a 



23 

candidate. The persistence for President Grant dissolved orig- 
inal bonds, and gave practical opportunity to the present move- 
ment. The longinn; for peace, which, in existing antagonisms 
of party, was witiiout effective expression, at last found free 
course. 

Accordingly, the original Republican, W'ho had announced 
'himself ready to "clasp hands" in pe^ce, wa^ accepted on a 
Kepubllcan platform, declaring suj^port of the three constitu- 
tional amendments, and placing in tiie foreground the great 
truth that all men are equal before the law. Such is the his- 
toric fftct. That the party will be disloyal to this act, that it 
will turn its back on its cov(*nants, and seek, through a Repub- 
lican President, to reverse these safeguards, or in any way im- 
pair their efficacy, is not only without probability, but to imag- 
ine it is absolutely absurd. 

Beyond the unequivocal adhesion of the party in its corporate 
capacity, is that of eminent members, who volunteer as indi- 
viduals in the same declarations, so that personal pledge unites 
with party oblii?ation. I quote two instances at hand. 

Mr. Hendricks, so well known for his service in the National 
Senate, said recently in the Democratic State Convention of 
Indiana, on his nomination for Governor : 

" We have this day substantially turned our backs upon the past. We 
now stand in the present, and look forward to the great future. The past is 
gone." 

Nobody in the country can speak for his party with more au- 
thority ; nor could there be better words to denote the change 
that has occurred. 

Mr. Kerr, also of Indiana, an able Democratic representative 
in Congress, and now Congressional candidate at large, bears 
the same testimony. In a recent speech this distinguished 
Democrat says : 

*' The best impulse, the most patriotic sentiment, the most intelligent 
judgment of the jyisest and the best men of the country, now demand that 
the accomplished results of our great civil war, as they are crystallized 
in the amendments to the Constitution, shall stand as parts of the iundamen- 
tal law of the country, to be obeyed and maintained in good faith, without 
evasion, denial, or diminution, in favor of all classes ct the people. The 
Democratic party, in the most authoritative and solemn manner, accepts this 
judgment." 

Nothing could be more complete. All the amendments are 
to be obeyed and maintained "in good faith, without evasion, 
denial, or diminution, in favor of all classes of the people ;" and 



24 

this is tlie covenant of the Democratic party, countersigned by 
tlieir representative. Not content with this unequivocal adhe- 
sion, the speaker proceeds : 

"Any intelligent citizen, in public or private life, who charges that the 
Democratic party, if invested with power, would re-establish slavery, or 
pay for slaves, or assume or pay Confederate debts, and take suffrage from 
colored men, or do other acts in defiance of the Constitution, must be a 
hypocrite and a demagogue, and he can have no higher aim than to slander 
.and deceive." 

It Is easy to pardon the indignation with which this Demo- 
crat repels the calumnies employed to sow distrust. 

In strictest harmony with these authorities Is the public press, 
entitled to s]jeak for the Democratic party. Out of Innumera- 
ble testimonies I content myself witli two. 

The Cincinnati Enquirer, a leading Democratic journal of 
August 1, alluding to myself, says : 

"His confidence in the honor of the Democratic party is not misplaced. 
It will stand by the position which it assumed at Baltimore, and maintain 
"it under any and all circumstances. Upon th.at he may depend." 

Then again the same Democratic organ says : 

'•It pleases some of the Grant papers to speak of Mr. Greeley as a Demo- 
cratic candidate, because he was nominated by a Democratic Convention. 
They ignore the fact that he had been previously nominated by a Republican 
Convention — that he has always been a Republican, and ne^fer cast a Demo- 
cratic ballot in his life. None of them have answered our query whether 
they would have considered Gen. Grant the Democratic candidate if he had 
been nominated at Baltimore : and if not, why do they make the difference 
between him and Greeley?" 

The Washington Patriot, the Democratic journal at the Na- 
tional capltol, of August 7, thus explicitly pronounces : 

"The Democratic party have loyally and honorably conditioned to uphold 
the Cincinnati platform and all its obligations. Theij mean to fulfil that 
bond in good faith and to the last letter. Hence not a word was altered at 
Baltimore, not a letter changed, not a comma erased. We took it ia the ex- 
act sense, and In all the spirit of the several declarations, with entire Jcnmcl- 
edge of the duty which they enjoined, and an honest purpose to perform it at 
any cost. So far from Regarding that acceptance as a sacrifice, it was wel- 
comed everywhere with joy." 

Are these speakers and these newspapers united In conspira- 
cy to deceive, or are they dupes? Spurning the Idea of dishon- 
est conspiracy, I cannot doubt that they believe what they say, 
and that what they say is true. Again, I insist that the sallies 
of local disaffection, or of personal brutality, however pain- 
ful or du^credltable, cannot Interfere to change the open adhesion 
of the party, followed by declarations so authentic In form. 
On this ojien adhesion, and these declarations 1 act, and to the 
complete fulfilment of all the obligations assumed, I feel that J 
may confidently hold the party. 



25 



MOTIVES TO KEEP THE -DEMOCRATIC TARTY TRUE. 

But why should the Democratic party be untrue to the 
covenants it has assumed? This imputation, so insiihini^ to a 
great political organization, and to the distinguished nieinbera 
who have openly united in its adhesion, cannot be accepted with- 
out some ground of reason, or at least of presumption. But 
all reason and every presumption are the other way. JNIen act 
according to their supposed interests ; this is a law of human 
nature ; but every interest of former rebels is for peace. Under 
the influence of uncontrolled passion and for the sake of slavery, 
they went into rebellion ; but now that passion has abated, and 
slavery has ceased, they see that nothing is gained by {)rolong- 
ing the animosities it engendered. Peace has become their ab- 
sorbing interest. So obvious is the advantage from this assured 
possession, that it is unreasonable to suppose them indifferent 
when it is within reach ; it is absurd to imagine them professing 
peace as a cover for war — war in which they know they must 
fail. This explains the promptitude with which they seized 
the opportunity now presented. At once they declared their 
desire and offered the hand of fellowship, at the same time an- 
nouncing their acceptance of those great measures by which the 
Equal Rights of all are assured. 

The motives naturally governing former rebels, in accepting 
Horace Greeley and a Republican platform, are plain. "^ There 
is first, the general prostration of their region, which they would 
see improved ; but this can be only by the establishment of 
peace undisturbed, so that all men, white and black, mav live in 
security. / This is an essential condition. Violence breeds a 
kindred crop ; nor can distrust exist without detriment to all. 
Let either appear, and the most fertile fields will fail in produc- 
tive power. Men will not mingle their sweat with the soil, 
becoming co-laborers with the sun, — they will not sow and 
plough, — unless assured in the enjoyment of what the generous 
earth is ready to yield. Above all, those truest allies, so essential 
to prosperous industry, capital and immigration, will turn away 
from the land that is not blessed by peace. Security is a con- 
stant invitation and encouragement. There must be 
security in all things, — security in life, security in property, 
and security in rights, including Liberty and Equality, the great 
promises of the Declaration of Independence. Let any of 
these be in any peril ; let any shadow rest upon their enjoyment, 



2^ 

and the whole community must suffer. 'Therefore, by the 
impulse of self-interest now clearly manifest are the people of 
tlie South moved to the present effort for peace. 

This same motive assumes another form, in the desire to 
escape from existing misrule, which has left such traces in the 
disordered finances of the Southern States. So colossal has 
been the scale of plunder, that even authentic report seems like 
fable.' According to one statement, tlie sum-total of debts and 
liabilities in the reSel States, in 1861, was $7(5,248,141, but 
in 1871 it was $291,62(),02B, showing an increase since 
the war of $215,210,125, which, making allowance for any 
possible exaggeration, is still a disheartening mass. How small 
is all that was done by old Tammany compared with this 
enormous robbery ! Looking at individual States, the terrible 
proportions stand forth, making each a witness. Tliere is South 
Carolina, with its original debt of $4,407,958, now $22,480,516 ; 
Louisiana, with its original debt of $11,000,000, now $40,- 
021,734; Georgia, with its original debt of $2,670,750, risen 
to $42,500,500; and Florida, so feeble in population, with its 
original debt of $370,717, swollen to $15,707,587. Second 
only to the wide-spread devastations of war, are the robberies 
to which these States have been subjected, — I am sorry to say, 
under an administration calling itself Republican, at Washington, 
and with local governments deriving their animating iiupulse 
from the party in power, with the President as its dominant liead. 
Surely the people in these communities would have been less 
tlian men, if sinking u-nder the intolerable burden, they did not 
turn for help to a new party, promising reform and honesty. 
They have seen custom-hout^es used to maintain the plunderers 
in power ; they have seen all available political forces pressed 
to procure the renewed rule of the President, under whom they 
have suffered so much, and they have seen this very President, 
teach by example, that every office-holder should begin by look- 
ing out for himself. It would be a wonder if they did not join 
the present movement and maintain its declared purposes to the 
end . 

It is easy to see that, under these promptings, where personal 
and local interests were so strong, Horace Greeley was com- 
mended as a candidate, and then sincerely acce[)ted. They 
knew him as the steadfast enemy of slavery, so long as it ex- 
isted, dealing against it hard and constant blows ; they knew 
him as the faithful ally of the freedman, insisting promptly 
upon his equal right to suffrage, which he vindicated with 



27 

persuasive power ; and they knew luin also as the devoted 
friend of the colored race, never failint,' in effort for their wel- 
fare : but they knew also that he was a lover of peace and 
honesty, wiiose soul had been transfi<rured in works, and that 
as sincerely as he had striven for the colored race, he now strove 
to mitinate those other burdens, which had reduced them to a 
new slavery, being a debt which was like chain and manacle 
upon their industry ; and they were assured that with lain the 
great q^ice for which he is a candidate would be a trust and 
not a personal perquisite, so that his example would be constant 
testimony to industry, integrity and fidelity in the discharge of 
public duties, thus fixing a standard for all. These things 
being evident, how could they hesitate? 

FAITH IN HORACE GREELEY. 

The partisans of re-election dwell much on the position and 
character of Mr. Greeely, insisting that he cannot be trusted in 
the Presidency ; partly because helped into power by Demo- 
crats, and partly from an alleged want of stability. It is dif- 
ficult to hear these barefaced allegations, in utter disregard of 
the prodigious testimony aiforded by his long carepr, without 
wonder at the extent to which prejudice and invention can be 
' carried. Had he been presented at Philadelphia with the sav- 
ino- sanction of a regular nomination, the same partisans, 
who now seek to exhibit him as a tool or an imbecile, would 
dwell with pride on his eminent qualities, making him, by the 
side of his competitor, an angel of light. Knowing them both, 
his superiority I may affirm. To say that under him slavery 
can in any way be revived, or that the rebel debt, or the pen- 
sion of rebel soldiers, or compensation for slaves can find favor, 
or that the equal rights x^f the freed men, to which he is so 
solemnly pledged, can in any way be impaired ; all this is simply 
atrocious. Nothing of the kind can be done without violation 
of the Constitution as amended ; not to speak of the departure 
from that rule of life which he has ever followed. Tliere is no 
Democrat, sympathizing with his nomination, who would not 
spurn the infamous treachery. I dismiss the whole partisan 
extravagance to the contempt it deserves. 

/The imi)utation that his election will be the return to power 
of the old Democratic party, is much like saying that he will 
cease to be himself, and that his surpassing individuality, making 



28 

him so conspicuous, will be lost. They who make the imputa- 
tion foraet that this old party, if it has not ceased to exist, is 
changed in character. Standing on a Re[)ublican platform, and 
with a Republican candidate, it may look the Republican party 
in the face, claiming for itself the future, if not the- past. 
Plainly it is not that Democratic party against which Republi- 
cans have contended. If Democrats have influence witli Horace 
Greeley, it will be because they have sincerely placed themselves 
by his side on a platform whicli distinctly announces all that Re- 
publicans have ever claimed. / 

Against all pretended distrust, I oppose the open record of 
his life. By this let him be judged. And here it will be ob- 
served, that, while sometimes differing from others in methods, 
he has never, at any moment, ceased to be a champion, being 
always the same. Here is a private letter, which has only re- 
cently appeared, being a gleam of sunlight from his soul, which 
the dark days of the war could not quench : — 

* " Office of the Tribune, } 

New York, June 26, 1863. ^ 

" My Dear Sir : In God's good time this is to he aland of real freedom, 
where equal rights and equal laws shall banish rebellion, treason and riot, 
and all m;uin;er of kindred diil)()lisms. I hardly hope to live to see that 
day, but ho[)e that those who may remember me when 1 am gone, will be- 
lieve that I earnestly tried to hasten its coming. Yours, 

Horace Greeley." 

To suppose that, under any circumstances of pressure or temp- 
tation, he can fail in .loyalty to the cause he has served so con- 
stantly, is an offence to reason and to decency. In his two 
letters of acceptance this loyalty is nobly conspicuous. Reply- 
ing to the nomination at Cincinnati, he drew the wise line between 
* 'local self-governmcnt"and ''centralization," asserting the former 
as our true policy, " subject to our solemn constitutional obliga- 
tion to maintain the equal rights of all citizens," thus i)lacing 
these under national safeguard, and making them absokitely 
the same in all parts of the country. Replying to the nomina- 
tion at Baltimore, made after the enunciation of this master 
principle, he aimounces his hope and trust that the first cen- 
tury of American Independence will not close before the grand 
elemental truths, on which its rightfulness was originally based, 
♦< will have become the universally accepted and honored founda- 
tions of our political fabric." And thus is his great record 
crowned. . -"-^-w/a 



29 

Living so entirely in the public eye, all know liis- life, which 
speaks for liiin now. Who so well as hiinsoU', could stand the 
trial? The Tribune, in its career of more tljan thirty years, s|)eak8 
for hitn also. To those opponents, who, in the work of dis- 
paragement, assert that he wants executive ability, 1 jjoint to 
this journal, begun by Horace Greeley in 1841, without partner 
or business associate, with a cash capital of only one thousand 
dollars, and with but six hundred subscribers. And yet under 
his individual effort, by his amazing industry, and through his 
rare intelligence, with his determined natin-e aninjating all, the 
enterprise pros[)cred, until he found himself at the head of one 
of the first newspaj)ers of the world, completely organized intel- 
lectually and mec anically, with writers for every subject, with, 
correspondents everywhere at home and abroad, and with a con- 
stantly increasing influence never surpassed In newspaper history. 
A President, with the ability that did all this, would impart new 
energy to the public service. Impressing it with his own faithful 
character, and assuring, on a larger scale, a corresponding suc- 
cess, 80 that the whole country would be gainer. Again, to those 
opponents who assert that Horace Greeley wants fidelity, or that 
he can be easily swayed against life-long convictions, I point to 
this same journal, which from the beginning, and throughout the 
vvhole course of its existence, has been an unwavering represen- 
tative of the liberal cause, foremost always In warfare vv^ith 
slavery, prompt in support of reform, inflexible in honesty, 
and a beacon flame to all struggling for human advancement. 

Not to put faith in Horace Greeley, Is to act not only without 
evidence, but against evidence, so manifest and constant in un- 
l)roken continuity, as to seem like a law of nature. As well 
distrust the sun in Its appointed course. 

ANSWER TO TWO OBJECTIONS. 

Such Is the easy answer to objectors, who cry out that Demo- 
crats uniting with Republicans, on a Republican platform, cannot 
1)6 trusted ; and that the candidate himself cannot be trusted. The 
wantonness of partisanship Is too apparent in this pretension. 
I have considered it carefully as a lover of truth, and you have 
my conclusion. Therefore do I say, be not deterred from votino- 
Jor Horace Greeley, because Democrats will also vote for him, 
l)ut rather rejoice. Their votes will be a new bond of peace, 
;md a new assurance for the great principles declared by our 
lathers at our birth as a nation. 



,30 



THE OLIVE-BRANCH AND EQUAL RIGHTS. 

And has not the time arrived, when in sincerity we should ac- 
cept the olive-branch? Is it not time for the pen to take the 
place of the sword ? Is it not time for the Executive mansion 
to be changed from a barrack cesspool to a life-giving foun- 
tain ? Is it not time for a President, who will show bv example, 
the importance of reform, and teach the duty of subordinating 
personal objects to the {)ublic service? Is it not time for the 
Head of the National Government to re[)resent the idea of 
peace and reconciliation, rather than of battle and strife? Is it 
not time for that new era, when ancient enemies, foraettinof the 
past, shall " clasp hands " in true unity with the principles of 
the Declaration of Independence as the supreme law? De- 
ploring the fate of Poland and of Ireland, I seize the earliest 
moment to escape from similar possibility here. Mindful 
that the memories of the past can only yield to a happy present, 
something woukl I do to [)rom()te this end. Anxious for the 
equal rights of all, and knowing well that no text of law or 
constitution is adequate, without a supporting' sentiment behind, 
I cannot miss the opportunity afforded by the present election, 
of obtaining this strength for our great guarantees. 

Reconstruction is now complete. Every State is reprcr 
sented in the Senate, and every district is represented in the 
House of Representatives. Every Senator and every Representa- 
tive is in his place. There are no vacant seats in either cham- 
ber, and among the members are fellow-citizens of the African 
race. And amnesty, nearly universal, has been adopted. In 
this condition of tilings I find new reason for change. The 
present incumbent kijows littleof our frame of government. By 
military education and military genius, he represents the idea of 
force ; nor is he any exception to the rule of his profession, which 
appreciates only slightly a government that is not arbitrary. 
The time for the soldier has passed, especially when his re- 
newed power would once more remind fellow-citizens of their 
defeat. Victory over fellow-citizens should be known only in 
the rights it assures ; nor should it be flaunted in the face of the 
vanquished. It should not be inscribed on regimental colors, 
or portrayed in pictures at the National Capitol. Hut the pres- 
ent incumbent is a regimental color with the forbidden inscrip- 
tion ; he is a picture at the National Capitol recalling victories 
over fellow-citizens. It is doubtful if such a presence can pro- 



31 

mote true reconciliation. Friendship does not grow where 
former differences .ire thrust in sight. There are wounds of the 
mind as of tlie body ; these too must be healed. Instead of 
irritation and jn-essure, let there be gentleness and generosity. 
Men in this world get only what they give, — ])r(jii(lioe for 
prejudice, — animosity for animosity, — hate for hate. Likewise 
confidence is returned for confidence ; good-will is returned for 
good-will ; friendship is returned for friendship. On this rule, 
which is the same for the nation as for the individual, 1 would 
now act. So will the Republic be elevated to new heights of 
moral grandeur, and our people will manifest that virtue 
" greatest of all" which is found in charity. Above the con- 
quest of others will be the conquest of ourselves. Nor will any 
fellow-citizen suffer in rights ; but all will find new safeguard 
in the comprehensive fellowship. 



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